The field of the invention is generally that of lubricating apparatus, structures, and materials which, in accordance with conventional prior art practice, largely comprise liquid or semi-liquid lubricating materials such as oils and/or greases or the like, and structures or apparatuses for effectively applying same, either initially or during actual operation, to workpiece surfaces which are intended to be lubricated. Sometimes, such prior art apparatuses have comprised mechanisms for moving such oil or grease to a workpiece surface and effectively applying same thereto under the action of gravity, positive feeding pressure or other equivalent applicatory procedures. There have also been a few prior art so-called "self-lubricating" or so-called "oil-less" construction which provided essential lubrication by causing the workpiece surface (such as the surface of a bearing, a journal, or other moving mechanical workpiece surface or surfaces) to be essentially porous in nature and with multiple pores thereof being initially filled with lubricant material such as oil, grease, or other functional equivalents. This type of construction in effect, is already provided with its own lubricant.
However, it should be noted that the various prior art lubricating systems, apparatuses and procedures referred to above, have certain disadvantages such as the fact that when a workpiece surface is initially placed into relative sliding contact with some other workpiece surface (such as a piston or piston rings within a cylinder of an engine, for example), at the very beginning of the relative movement, there is usually a minimum of lubrication present on the frictionally-engaged and slideably movable workpiece surfaces and this condition continues for as long a period of time as is required to bring about positive feeding of liquid or semi-liquid lubricant material onto the engaged slideably moving workpiece surfaces, which occurs only after whatever mechanism is employed for moving the lubricating oil or grease onto the slideably engaged workpiece surfaces as had time to become effective. In certain cases where the workpiece surfaces and the lubricating oil or grease are initially cold, this problem may be further aggravated and complicated, because real lubrication of the workpiece surfaces will then normally not occur until the oil or grease has been heated sufficiently to effectively reduce its viscosity to a proper magnitude for good feeding action thereof to the sliding workpiece surfaces. In the case of so-called "self-lubricating" or so-called "oil-less" lubrication, generally that is only effective for relatively low load or light duty apparatus and is limited further by the requisite porous structure required of the workpiece surfaces, which is positively precluded under certain conditions and where certain types of workpiece surfaces are employed. Furthermore, it should be noted that one of the prior art disadvantages is the fact that if one attempts to provide initial lubrication to workpiece surfaces prior to beginning to relatively move them in sliding contact with each other, the lubricating oil applied to the workpiece surfaces will tend to drain away and when relative movement of the workpiece surfaces begins after a time delay, it will be found that very little initial lubrication therebetween exists. Thus, it is clear that any improvement in the lubricating art which would make it possible to apply lubricant material to a workpiece surface in a relatively simple manner and where the lubrication would remain effective for a substantial period of time thereafter and would not become ineffective for quite a long time, relatively speaking, would be highly desirable improvement because it would virtually completely overcome the above-mentioned prior art problems and disadvantages, and it is precisely such a highly-desirable and advantageous type of lubricant applying apparatus that is provided by and in the present invention, and which further has additional advantages, which taken together with those already pointed out, virtually completely overcome most of the prior art problems, disadvantages, and limitations, with all of said advantages of the present invention flowing from and occurring by reason of the specific features of the present invention pointed out hereinafter. Probably one of the greatest uses of the present invention is in the field of pneumatics where it is desirable to keep the operating air as moisture-free and as oil-free as possible. Many small air compressors operate without oiled cylinders and rely on oil mist hopefully carried to the cylinder wall by oil grooves cut into the face of the piston. Graphite imbedded into the valleys of the cylinder-wall surface would supply lubricant (as graphite by itself is a lubricant) as well as providing a base for oil retention. Graphite or Teflon.RTM. would also transfer to any "O" ring and would greatly reduce friction and increase operating efficiency and life. Initial break-in wear (the bedding-in process) would have the possibility of scuffing or pre-mature glazing greatly reduced by having a graphited base to begin with.
Early experimental analysis work included testing by the laboratories of SEAL (Scanning Electron Microscopic Labs) & has shown that a cylinder wall treated by this process has a coverage of over 90% carbon charted on the surface to a depth of one micron.